C. M. Black: Eyes of an Owl

Chapter X: Cold shoulder

'You must be careful, Harry,' said Cassy imploringly after dinner.

The common room had settled into a low murmur of activity. For many, the first busy day after the long summer had tired them, forcing them to slink into nearby seats to converse lazily, or even to an early retirement. The fire crackled softly, adding an extra layer of noise to mask the hushed conversation.

'I should be able to tell people the truth,' said Harry, frowning.

'That will cause trouble and the more trouble you are in the less likely people will be to support you because they will fear that you will also cause them grief,' disagreed Cassy calmly.

Not for the first time, Harry scoffed. 'I don't care.'

'Then why did you become so offended by Seamus' questions?' she asked coolly.

Harry was silent.

'Listen, I believe that Professor Umbridge is only stationed here to keep an eye on the Headmaster and you; she is to ensure that the truth does not become a common belief. She will try to discredit you as she did in class today. You need to be careful not to draw more attention from her,' said Cassy carefully. Her eyes remained fixed on Harry's face, monitoring each flicker of emotion and every twitch of muscle as she spoke. already on thin ice, she had no desire to push too hard, but he needed to hear it, yet she could already tell it was not appreciated.

'You sound like McGonagall,' he said flatly. 'She told me to watch myself too.'

Cassy raised a pointed eyebrow and Harry shifted in his seat. He no longer slouched, but leant away against the back of the plush, scarlet sofa. The fire reflected on his round spectacles, his eyes obscured. Cassy did not need to see them to read his emotion. She knew him too well by then to miss the way his shoulders had tensed and his jaw set, if just slightly. He was annoyed and offended.

'Don't start,' he said sharply. 'I should be able to publicise his return, I owe it to Cedric and to everyone to let them know what they will be up against. I don't want you telling me to stay quiet. You should be beside me to support me and helping me spread the word of Voldemort's return! I expected you to, to be honest. I expected you to be a good friend.'

Cassy said nothing for a time. She stared, stunned at his words, but even more so at his audacity. Slowly, her lips began to draw back and Harry did the same, readying himself for a fight that Cassy was not going to allow to occur.

'If you were a good friend you would stop taking this anger out on everyone else – hold your tongue, Potter, I'm talking. I expected snappy comebacks and sarcasm, but this anger of yours is constant and it is unbearable. I want to warn people as much as you, but I am trying to support you like an adult, not a petulant child akin to your own behaviour. Have you ever considered there are other ways to persuade people of the truth? Ways beside landing everyone you know in detention with a hag from the Ministry writing reports back on who needs to be kept under supervision? Have you not considered that will harm your cause more? No. No, you have not, because you are wrapped up in your own pity party and cannot notice anything outside of your own hardship!'

Cassy was on her feet by the end of her speech. Sharply, her words hissed, leaving her tongue with such rage and fire that Harry had no room to settle on anything but utter shock. There was no waiting to see his reply. Cassy had no time for a battle, her mind was already full and her nerves too stretched to be bothering with any such efforts that night. Swiftly, she turned on her heel and passed the faces of all the students who remained blissfully, and thankfully so, unaware of the spat of the two most undesirable members of the Gryffindor house.

She said nothing to Neville and Hermione, who were still working diligently on their new homework in the far corner. Her feet glided up the steps and across the dormitory to her bed. She flung the curtains all across. As soon as she curled up in the darkness, Cassy no longer bothered to hide the scowl that had been trying to ebb its way onto her face.

How dare he, she thought scathingly, how dare Harry speak to me like that?

He had never done so before. Even at his angriest, Harry had never accused her of being a poor friend, although Cassy had often privately antagonised that she was over the years to all of her friends. She had explained she had wanted him to remain out of sight and it was obvious why, so she could not fathom why it was such an impossible concept for him to grasp. It was as if Harry was seeking to attention, almost going out of his way to cause havoc everywhere he went, from his intense temper to his reckless actions in class. No one at Grimmauld Place had failed to notice his distance since he had arrived. No one was going to have missed the tale of his outburst in class by tomorrow either.

She wanted to be scornful and ignore him, but a calmer, more rational side of her brain told her that her speech was too much, too harsh, and that it was enough already. Rather than guilt, Cassy felt resignation. Harry was not a diplomat and nor would he likely ever be. His greatest conflict had been with Voldemort, or his relatives before that, something he did not need to rely on public opinion for. He had no idea what to do and Cassy did; she could help him if he would let her. He needed her advice.

He was angry all the time. She was angry all the time, waiting for something else to go wrong. Things with Harry were already unsteady that she had half a mind to confess the feelings she had been harbouring for almost a year now and be done with it. It could not get any worse that it already was unless he decided to cut ties entirely and even in her anger she could not see that happening. Harry was too nice. Perhaps then she would get over him and move on with her life if he out rightly rejected her.

Sighing, Cassy withdrew her Potions textbook, keen not to waste the entire evening.

The following day, Harry did not mention the argument. It was as though nothing had been mentioned, or it would have been had Harry's tone not become cool and curt when speaking to her. He did not avoid her, or ignore her, but merely spoke through her, maintaining discussion with the group by never directly conversing unless needed and Cassy took no notice. An irritable beast reared in her chest, but it was nothing she had not been keeping at bay for the last three months. She had become quite adept at it by then.

In the morning, before anyone else had risen, Neville had caught her by the fire, his hands twisting his tie into a clumsy knot as he walked. His eyes raked the surfaces of the common room. Hermione had begun knitting socks and hats for the House-elves. He spoke shortly and nodded at Cassy's affronted expression. Apparently, he had thought to tell Hermione himself that they could not be freed by others than their master and as they technically worked for the Headmaster, it was a useless ambition, but Neville did not have the heart.

Cassy pursed her lips. She made a mental note to call upon Plum and Kitsy later. While she was not worried they would leave her service – she knew she would have a fight on her hands if she tried – she did fear their unhappiness at finding hidden clothing in unsuspecting places. If they were to take offence, then Cassy would have to calm them and Plum was not fond of Hermione as it was.

Cassy smiled grimly half-an-hour later as Hermione joyfully exclaimed all of her knitting had vanished. Long before her fuzzy-haired friend had emerged, Cassy had decided not to tell her. It would only cause her to become upset and she believed herself to have enough issues, without the accusation she was undermining Hermione's Civil Rights efforts again. If there was even one elf who wanted them, then she was going to leave them be for now.

Transfiguration and Charms were much like the same lesson that day. Half of it each was spent stressing the importance of the OWL exams in moving into careers in later life. They were the most basic of Wizarding Achievements and were vital to be able to continue study. Failure to achieve the required grade that year would limit their choices of NEWT exams in seventh-year.

No had appeared enthused by the news. To most, June seemed an age away and seventh-year was even further, an unimaginable and unreachable goal to the class of fifteen-year-olds who had slowly begun to waver in their attention by midway through the speech. Cassy eyed the board, reading the instructions of the Vanishing Charm Professor McGonagall had pre-emptively written on the blackboard behind her. She had no interest in the finer points of the importance of the exams; it was nothing she had not known since she was five. Her life had been spent preparing for them, ready to move above and beyond the average level of work and on to something greater. Anticipation rose at the thought of moving onto sixth-year work and what she could possibly do beyond it. Perhaps something more challenging, she hoped, watching Professor McGonagall clap her hands together and begin the actual lesson half-an-hour late. Cassy hoped for something difficult, something to make her think and work. Two days into the year and she was already bored, restless even, discontent with school, or perhaps it was everyone else around her.

Cassy did not bloom into eagerness in any of her classes. Charms was merely a revision of last year, following an almost word for word recount of what Professor McGonagall had said prior, and in Care of Magical Creatures they focused on Bowtruckles, which Cassy had seen before. They were tiny tree-guardians, their skin dark and rough like bark, with long nails used to fight and gauge. It was almost interesting, watching them rip the shells off the woodlice as they feasted on the pot Professor Grubbly-Plank had set out for them. Yet, she was not Hagrid and it was nothing Cassy had not heard in childhood bedtime stories of the dangers of misadventure in the forest.

Cassy spent most of her lesson making slow notes. Occasionally, she glanced over to Draco, watching him laugh easily with his friends.

It would be wonderful if he was to be covered in those woodlice, the Bowtruckles would go mad, thought Cassy absently. Their little claws would poke and pinch.

'You look vindictive,' remarked Neville beside her.

Cassy turned to look at him, only to then realise how far her eyes had narrowed. She wiped the smirk off her face and went back to her notes. Professor Grubbly-Plank called out another name to come closer to see the tree-guardian in turn.

Harry slipped into the space on the ground beside Hermione. A deep frown was on his face. Cassy pretended not to notice.

'I am worried something has happened to Hagrid,' he said, looking between them.

Cassy turned over her notes as though she had not heard him.

'What do you mean?' asked Neville, concerned.

'Malfoy said that maybe Hagrid has got himself injured, that he was messing with something too big for him,' said Harry, hushed and alarmed.

Too big? Thought Cassy in interest. Lucius and Narcissa were doing an exceptionally poor job of keeping Draco's tongue tied if it was the case.

'Oh, don't think about it, Harry,' said Hermione. 'He is just winding you up as always by pretending he knows what is going on. You reacting will only make him do it more.'

Cassy knew the only way to deal with Draco was to make him think he was ill-informed. Not only would it make him angry, but it would make him second guess himself. His teasing would get worse for a time, but simultaneously more desperate until it crumbled beneath him. It was how she had always won their little fights as children, each time a birthday present was hidden, or a mystery day trip planned, he would pretend to know better and Cassy would merely lie better. She would giggle to herself each time his back was turned, knowing full well he was pouting at his mother to be told as soon as she would leave.

That fond thought was broken off quickly.

From the side of her eyes, she cast a long, flat stare at Draco. He continued to laugh while he eyed the back of Harry's head. Beside him, Crabbe and Goyle guffawed with laughter at something he had said and Parkinson looped her arm through his and smirked nastily. Draco did not once even glance at Cassy. His eyes remained fixed on Harry only when he ventured in their direction.

It might have been the lack of her own conversation that allowed Cassy to hear the fierce and renewed discussion on what had really happened in June in the maze on the way to Herbology. Fiery words were spat louder than the day before. Questions arose on how Harry could expect anyone to believe his tale again and again all through the halls they walked. Cassy waited. She waited for Harry to explode and lash out, but he did not. It was as if he had not heard them and Cassy considered it impossible. She might have believed it though, had she not caught sight of his trembling fists as they lined up.

The doors finally opened up, allowing a fresh burst of whispers the flood down the hall. The mix of students did not look the least bit ashamed when they all turned to stare at Harry. Although many hands rose to hide their mouths, making it impossible for Cassy to read their whispers, few thought to look away. Cassy scowled openly at them as they passed, enticing a slight bit of embarrassment from a few, their heads ducked.

'I believe Harry Potter,' came a light, airy voice from the middle of the crowd. 'I think You-Know-Who has returned.'

Through the throng of fourth-years, Cassy spotted Luna. Her hair was tied in a messy knot on the top of her head and beside her was Ginny, her chin held high as if daring anyone to comment on what her friend had said. The pair of them smiled when they passed.

'That hardly helped things at all,' said Hermione in an indignant whisper.

'Well, it's nice to have some open support,' said Harry blandly.

'Well, I believe Harry too,' came the voice of Ernie Macmillan as they filed inside. 'My parents have always been loyal followers of Dumbledore.'

His words enticed a renewed mumbling. Several faces straightened, their laughter and teasing forgotten, including that of Lavender and Seamus. Lavender caught Cassy's eye and quickly looked away. Her resolve had been weak since the first day. She had crumbled almost immediately when Pavarti expressed her own resolve. Seamus, however, stared on in defiance. His moment of remorse was only an instant. Yet, Cassy found herself wondering how different it would be if Harry just apologised for insulting his mother. She could think of other things Harry could do with apologising for to.

He had not done anything of the sort by the time dinner rolled around that evening. Neville was cheerfully complimenting Luna on her support, but Harry was hardly listening. His food was on his plate and gone from it in a minute. His eyes flicked down to his watch that Neville had brought him for his birthday.

'Is it time for your detention?' asked Hermione anxiously.

'Yeah,' sighed Harry.

'Good luck,' said Neville with a strained smile. 'How bad can it be, really?'

'It's not like I've never had detention before. I just don't want to spend an extra hour with her,' grumbled Harry.

'No one wants to see her face for a moment, let alone extra, but you dug your own grave,' added Ginny, mashing her baked potato.

Harry turned and gave her a flat look, but Ginny merely shrugged.

'Well, you did.'

'Quite spectacularly,' agreed Cassy under her breath.

Hermione elbowed her. She nearly kicked her back under the table, yet found she did not have the effort.

'Thanks, Ginny,' snapped Harry. He picked up his bag and swung it over his shoulder, before he strode from the hall, vanishing towards the marble staircases.

'I don't think he agreed with you, Ginny,' piped Luna when they all returned to their meals.

'Well, it's true,' defended Ginny. 'He needs to stop taking out his temper on everyone else. It's not like we're the ones spreading he is a liar. Have none of you tried to mention it?'

'I have,' answered Cassy shortly.

'Is that why he's ignoring you?' asked Hermione. She frowned and paused.

Cassy sighed. 'He said I was not being vocal enough in my support and so I was a bad friend. I told him his behaviour now should make him think of who is a bad friend.'

'Oh, Cassy,' groaned Hermione into her hands.

'So, that went well, did it?' asked Neville with a grimace.

'Was that all you said?' questioned Hermione. She ducked her head into Cassy's eye line when the other refused to look up. 'Cassy!'

'I may have called him a petulant child and accused him of being wrapped up in his own pity party,' said Cassy after a moment of silence.

No one spoke for a time, until a low, grimacing 'ooh' came from Ginny and Hermione whined again into her hands. Neville bit his lip and Luna had raised her eyebrows a fraction, but soon forgot it in favour of the dessert that appeared to replace the hot dinner foods.

'Usually you are so tactful,' said Neville.

'I lost my temper,' admitted Cassy, embarrassed. 'I was sick of him being so sharp towards me when I have been doing my best all summer. It is as though he switched when he did not need me anymore. It is infuriating.'

'I was going to say something myself when he got back from detention,' said Hermione. 'I was beginning to lose my patience too, but mine wasn't going to be so blunt.'

'Yes, well, I don't regret it,' said Cassy. She dropped her fork down onto her plate and swung her legs over the edge of the bench. There was nothing left for her to say and mentioning the conversation only served to renew her irritation with Harry. She looked down at Neville. 'Are you coming to do your homework as asked earlier?'

'Yeah,' agreed Neville; he quickly stood, as if fearful she would leave without him otherwise.

'Me and Luna were going to do our own in the library later. We might see you there,' said Ginny, reaching over to pick up a slice of Victoria Sponge cake.

Cassy looked expectantly at Hermione.

'I think I'm going to do some more knitting. The homework is easy enough, so I'll do it tomorrow instead. I want to free as many elves as possible,' announced Hermione.

Cassy stared at her friend's gleeful smile and any urge to tell her it was futile died once more. 'Okay, well we will see you later. Come, Neville.'

Neville, despite being taller than Cassy, was forced to jog to fall into step with her quick stride. They exited into the entrance hall, which was flecked with the occasional body of lingering students and the mingling of other houses up and down the stairs. The numbers thinned the higher they climbed. It was not until they entered a completely vacated corridor that Neville dared to peer down at Cassy.

'Are you all right?' he asked.

'I'm fine,' she replied.

'I don't just mean about your argument with Harry. You've been bit off lately,' he said, ignoring her response.

'What do you mean "off"?' she said with genuine curiosity.

'Well,' began Neville, as he pulled at the seams of his cloak nervously, 'you don't talk as much as you used to and when you do it doesn't last very long. Sometimes you talk about odd things.'

'Such as?' enquired Cassy in a low drawl. She had been talking fine, she assured herself. She had not noticed herself ignoring the conversation, as much as she wished she could. She spent more time alone, but that was merely by choice. Too long in Grimmauld Place had driven her half mad and so her relief was to come from the school, where she could slip away and sit for hours in silence in class, left with a task and her own mind. At least, it was to be a relief if Harry did not insist on sharing his permanent rain cloud with the rest of them. It almost sounded insulting; it was as if Neville was accusing her of being unsociable and that role had already been filled by another with anger issues.

'I mean like those books of yours. You shouldn't be reading them, they're dangerous,' he said, his voice became firmer.

'If you knew I was reading them so I understand what we will be facing, would you still be inclined to fight me?' questioned Cassy calmly. Her tone was light, as if commenting on the weather or complimenting a dog. As she suspected, Neville hesitated.

'I still don't like it, Cassy,' he said eventually. 'Those types of things are always bad news.'

Cassy did not reply. The remainder of the walk to the library was conducted in silence and it was not until they had seated themselves at the table that Cassy spoke again. Her fingers trailed over the textbook, listing off the key paragraphs and where to find them, what to include what was irrelevant. Neville scribbled down her words at the bottom of his Potion notes of the lesson, which were sparse at best and non-existent entirely in places. Without complaint, Cassy passed him her own notes. They were long and comprehensive, perhaps too much for Neville to take in, but in his determination to at least pass his Potion OWL, he spent the next half-an-hour reading them thoroughly anyway.

Slowly, he worked through Professor Snape's essay. Despite being tempted to help as she had for years now, Cassy allowed him to work through it himself and only intervened when asked. She considered it healthy if Neville design his own work ethic, but long since engrained habits of carefully correcting his mistakes still had her peering over her own essay occasionally to monitor his progress.

Her own Care of Magical Creature essay was nearing completion when a small cough sounded from the shelves behind. With no urgency, Cassy turned in her seat, noting that Neville had widened his eyes at the person already.

Astoria stood with her hands hung easily by her sides. No attention was paid to Neville, there was no unease at his presence; in fact, it appeared as if Astoria had not registered he was there at all. For that second, with her face calm and her eyes trained solely on Cassy, Cassy considered her to be very much like her older sister Daphne for the first time since they had met.

'Can I speak with you?' asked Astoria.

'You can,' responded Cassy.

Neither moved for a time, before Astoria frowned and her shoulders slumped.

'May I speak with you?' she asked again.

'Yes, you may,' said Cassy, rising from her seat with a pleasant smile that Astoria merely rolled her eyes at. 'Neville, I will be back in a minute, okay?'

'Yeah,' he said, unsure.

Turning back to Astoria, Cassy rolled out her arm to sign for her to lead the way. Astoria did and the pair walked down many winding aisles of the library, passing through more and narrower openings as they entered the very centre. She stopped suddenly. Her shoulder leant against the shelf, something Cassy could not achieve through her inferior height, and her arms crossed across her chest. Astoria's eyes did not rake up and down the aisle, nor peer through the books into either side. She had already planned the spot for the conversation; she had already checked it was secure and Cassy found herself crossing her own arms in reluctance at hearing what she might want.

'How are you?' asked Astoria.

'Fine,' said Cassy shortly. She batted it away as nothing more than a courtesy question, an opener to an unpleasant conversation.

'What exactly had occurred between you and Draco?' she then asked, without missing a beat.

There we go, thought Cassy flatly. Her expression did not change, having already expected such a question the moment they stepped deeper than the Potion isle.

'I understand that you have feelings for my cousin, Astoria, but that does not make it any of your business,' said Cassy coolly.

Astoria scowled. 'What about us being friends? I don't just spend time with you because I fancy your cousin.'

'But you used to,' replied Cassy pointedly.

'Yes,' snapped Astoria, 'and you used to be nice to me even then, yet here you are being a jerk. I just wanted to know what happened.'

'I'm sorry. I have had a few fights in the past few days. My temper is short,' Cassy sighed. 'What makes you think anything is wrong?'

Astoria stared down at her critically for a few seconds. Then, she pursed her lips. 'Draco has been talking about you more than usual in the common room. Normally, he just ridicules your friends, but... sometimes he mentions you too now.' For the first time, Astoria almost looked uneasy for being so blunt.

There was only a slight sinking in Cassy's stomach.

'We had an argument,' said Cassy, the half-lie slipped easily from her mouth. She had prepared a speech in case a friend should ask, but she supposed they could hardly tell the difference. Draco had never pretended to be close and Cassy had rarely defended him back. It was as if their reluctant acknowledgement of their relationship had finally become the flat hate that was expected of them. Cassy was ashamed to admit she was genuinely surprised it had happened. For all of his complaints, she had at least thought Draco cared somewhat about her.

'A big one then,' said Astoria, frowning.

'It was simply because I did not go to live with him following the funeral,' said Cassy, her voice sinking sternly. 'He seems to think it was my doing, when I really had no say.'

Astoria scowled deeply. 'What a terrible thing to be angry over! You have enough to deal with, let alone him adding to it by being such a prat.'

'Just ignore it,' said Cassy. Her lips turned up at the edges as she did her best to smile. Painfully aware she was failing, Cassy let it slide again. 'Draco will only do it more if he thinks he is getting attention from it.'

'Boys are stupid,' sighed Astoria.

Aren't they just, thought Cassy.

'Everyone has the capacity to be stupid,' she responded instead.

'Yes, well,' scoffed Astoria, 'if he thinks it's okay to hassle you over that then he has another thing coming.'

'I am older than you, you know,' laughed Cassy. A genuine smile tugged at her mouth for the first time that day.

Astoria stared down at her appraisingly. 'Yes, but I am a Slytherin and you are not, so I have to assume you are fulfilling your stupidity capacity.'

'How rude!' exclaimed Cassy, grinning.

'On the topic of rudeness, actually,' said Astoria, as if just having remembered, 'apparently you have been speaking to one Blaise Zabini, the rudest boy I know.'

'Is he now? How have you heard that, anyway?' asked Cassy curiously.

'Daphne told me. She said he mentioned you after she pestered him about where he went on the train. They are quite close and Daphne knows we speak, so she asked me whilst assuming you would have told me,' admitted Astoria.

'Oh? Did you not think it was risky to tell her we speak? She does not exactly seem to think much of me,' said Cassy, one eyebrow raised high on her forehead.

'She took one of my letters during summer because she wanted to know who I was writing to when we had just had a dinner party to see my friends at,' said Astoria, her easy tone suggesting her sister's nosiness was a common occurrence. 'Besides, it is not that she doesn't think much of you, it is just that she is hard to impress, much like Blaise. It's why they get on so well, I think.'

'Brilliant. I have spoken to Zabini, but besides that there is nothing to be done about Dr – Malfoy.' The name felt horribly bitter. 'Thank-you for the concern though. He can ridicule me and people can listen, but it is not the most important aspect of my life right now.'

Astoria hesitated and Cassy's eyes sharpened instantly.

'What is it?' she asked.

'You see, it's not only what Draco has been saying, but rather to who…'

Cassy hissed.

As promised another update!

Also as promised, more Cassy and Harry fighting. Cassy's not dealing with things well. Things are mounting up for her and her limited emotional range is in over drive. ;) This chapter sets up a bit, but is more a connection to the next.

I had a comment on Cassy's feelings towards Harry being sudden, I apologise if they read as such. I knew when she realised in fourth-year, but there is a large possibility it wasn't that obvious to anyone else. She started having an idea of them at Christmas when she heard Ginny and Harry were going to the ball together and I mention them occasionally afterwards, although usually through her actions, so while I know she would be fed up with it by now, I realised they may appear suddenly thrown in there. However, romance is full speed ahead this year and by that I mean it will progress at the same speed anything else does and will be trundling along in the background for a while yet.

The reviews have been lovely so far.

Thanks!